The First Song

Purpose

The First Song is the greatest song of the bards and the druids as it was said to have been composed and put down by Lynur himself. According to tradition, it was Lynur who gave the song to men so that they might know the story of the world and their place in it before Lynur began his long sojourn across the heavens to bring life and light to the world, departing from Mon Coimhead to keep his long vigil apart from Ytoniel.
Ever since, it has been the foundation of Laeonessai religion and culture, as it provides their understanding of reality, its functions, and the role of Lynur and themselves.

Document Structure

Clauses

The First Song is divided into three sections, referred to respectively as the First, Second, and Third movements.
In the First Movement, it speaks of Lynur and his creating of the world, and of the making of the Fae and of the Men. For the Fae, they were to shape and cultivate what existed into a place of beauty and joy, but Men were to be bold and to build new things from what existed, much in the same way as Lynur did from the dark. This is sung on the first day of each new year to commemorate new beginnings and the creation of a new year.
The second movement tells of the golden age when all lived in harmony and how it was marred by the Unmaker, eventually leading into the separation of Lynur and Ytoniel, as well as the feud between Fae and mortals. This is sung on the second day of each new year, representing how even new beginnings, high hopes, and good intentions will fall short. It is concluded with a song of lament composed from Ytoniel's perspective as she mourns for what was lost.
The third movement tells of the eventual reunification of Lynur and Ytoniel and the rewriting of the world to what it was meant to be, and how the Fae and Men will again be reunited, free of the conflict and hostility that has plagued their co-existence. It tells of a future that was meant to be from the beginning. This is sung on the third day of each new year to illustrate that even when things grow dark, there is always hope that all things will be restored to their truest nature.

Publication Status

Public Information

Historical Details

Background

The song has always existed within Laeonesse, passed around from storyteller to storyteller, even predating the official founding of the druids and the bards. Yet it has always been known and nobody remembers exactly who first composed or sang it. It exists, as far as anyone can tell, only within Laeonesse. As the disparate people groups from different parts of the world settled into the islands, this song became the foundation of their collective culture, eventually blending them into the culture later known as Laeonessai.

Public Reaction

Newcomers to the archipelago find it odd to hear such a song and are usually reluctant to accept it as anything more than a story. However, within a few generations, it is typical for their descendants that grow up in Laeonesse to find it more foundational to their identity, which has generally erased the pre-existing cultures that the immigrants have brought with them.
For those who are Laeonessai, it is the center of their culture, and they love the song with a fierce passion. Even before the children can stay up long enough to hear the full thing, their parents tell them the stories so that they all know the gist of it, and when they first hear the First Song, they can truly understand everything that they hear.

Legacy

As the foundation for Laeonessai culture, they cherish it above all other aspects of their culture, and for many, it is their culture. As such, when the Aelithi War of Occupation began, it was one of the first things that they tried to annihilate in order to bring the islands into submission to the empire. It was even deemed illegal for two hundred years to sing the First Song, but it was preserved in secret and passed down generation from generation.

In the endless dark, Lynur stood, and brought light, carving the rune for light from the darkness with his finger out of the darkness, and then came the light, granted not by the rune, but by Lynur. And by this light was the world written into being, forever existing within the darkness, but existing outside it, and so it is that only the most important tales are written down by the bards and the druids, for to write is to carve it permanently into being. All else is but wind on the grass as is the lives of mortals. So now we speak, for this is written in runes in the secret stones of the druids and it is these words that the world rests upon. Sit now and listen.

— Traditional bardic invocation chanted prior to a singing of the First Song

Type

Text, Religious

Medium

Oral Tradition / Word of Mouth

Myth

The Separation of Lynur and Ytoniel

Location

Mon Coimhead- Mount of the Watch